2017 Cross-Country News

When senior Julissa Tobias and junior Julian Sandoval left their hotel Saturday morning for a country drive to Principia College, Elsah, Illinois, it was a humid 68 degrees with little wind. Soon after arrival at the college’s famed North Farms Cross Country Course, a course carved out of bean fields and hilly timber land, the pair experienced a classic Midwestern warm-front / cold-front shift dropping temperatures to 42 degrees with a wind chill of 34 degrees.

Junior Julian Sandoval and senior Julissa Tobias are on their way to the Division III National Championships for cross-country set to take place tomorrow, Saturday, November 18 in Illinois at Principia College.

Qualifying for the NCAA Regionals for a cross-country runner is an internal competition among friends and teammates. One must finish the regular season ranked among the top seven runners on one's team. Not often an easy task…

The 2017 All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Women’s Cross Country teams were announced Thursday. First Team All-SCIAC honors were determined by the top 10 finishers at the SCIAC Championships, while the Second Team All-SCIAC members were determined by the next 10 to cross the finish line. The Newcomer, Celia Peterson, and Coaching Staff of the Year accolades were voted on by the league's member head coaches.

At the conclusion of the SCIAC Championships this past weekend, senior Julissa Tobias (Norwalk, Calif.) was recognized as the Celia Peterson Award Recipient, voted upon by her peers within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

The Whittier College Women’s Cross Country team has developed a tradition of avoiding bottom-half finishes in the nine-member SCIAC, even if ranked bottom-half ahead of the conference championships race. A disappointing 6th place did occur in 2013 but thanks to a fierce team effort on Saturday it would not happen again.

The Whittier College Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams continue to improve placing 5th and 6th, respectively, of 13 teams at the Pomona Invitational. Whittier’s 4th (KamRon Perry (San Jose, Calif.)) and 5th (David Del Carmen (Huntington Beach, Calif.)) males closed some gaps and the Poet 2nd (Jessica Iribe) and 5th (Esmeralda Martinez (Pomona, Calif.)) females were upside surprises. While the top seven per team are all important scorers in the sport of cross country, Coach Greg Phillips credited the aforementioned foursome the most for the positive team results.

The Whittier College Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams took on some of the top NCAA Div. I distance runners on Saturday at the 37th running of UC Riverside’s annual invitational. The men placed 26th of 41 teams in the elite invitational division won by No. 4 Div. I Southern Utah University, while the women posted an 18th place score among 43 teams in the open division, won by the Arkansas Razorbacks, also a top Div. I ranked program.

The Whittier College Men’s & Women’s Cross Country teams opened their competitive seasons Saturday racing 273 distance runners representing 18 colleges and universities including a number of unattached athletes at the Biola Invitational.

While official team practice doesn’t begin until August 24, the men’s and women’s cross country teams are already logging summer mileage crucial to success in the sport. Tradition will find the Poet endurance runners working hard at an altitude training camp in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., until Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Covert Invitational on September 2. Biola’s Invitational (September 9) and UC Riverside’s fast, flat course (September 16) will follow; all early meets purposed toward preparing for peak performances in November.